I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for feeding livestock and, in particular, to an apparatus and method for holding a round hay bale while allowing livestock access to the bale for feeding. The apparatus has a "hay saving" feature which spaces the feeding livestock from the hay bale and retains dropped hay within the space.
II. Description of the Related Art
Prior art round bale feeders have generally included some type of bale holding cradle which is accessible by livestock from one or more sides of the feeder. In most such feeders, the livestock are not spaced from the cradle and thus can feed directly from the hay bale. In so feeding, livestock create a considerable amount of waste. Hay is pulled from the hay bale and dropped at the feet of the livestock, then trampled and soiled to a condition in which it is no longer usable as feed. Estimates for the amount of hay wasted from such feeders range up to 50 per cent.
Examples of such prior art feeders include U.S. Pat. No. 3,906,901 to Richard D. Cox, which teaches a rectangular shaped round bale feeder with a plurality of spaced parallel bars defining livestock feeding stations. U.S. Pat. No. 4,148,278 to Joseph A. Anderson teaches a portable feeding device which includes a barrier which can be positioned to surround a haystack. The barrier prevents cattle from trampling the hay within the stack and includes a deck which prevents them from extending their heads substantially beyond the barrier.
Numerous attempts have been made to address the problem of wasted hay in such feeders. Examples include U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,663 to John Schoessow teaches a mobile livestock feeder with a pair of feeding troughs with an inner and an outer framework arranged to prevent livestock from dragging substantial amounts of feed from the troughs. U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,609 to Lawrence Delichte teaches a cylindrically shaped round bale feeder in which the bale is stood on one end in a central cylinder and the livestock feed from a spaced outer cylinder. U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,040 to Martin teaches a rectangular shaped round bale feeder in which a central bale holding cradle is positioned well above a floor. Hay falling from the bale lands on the floor where livestock extending their heads through a surrounding framework can feed on the bale or the hay dropped on the floor.
While these feeders have been somewhat successful in remedying the problem of wasted hay, they have often made it difficult for the feeding livestock to reach the spaced bale, and/or have caused hay dropped by the livestock to be difficult to reach. Loading and removal of the large round bales from such feeders has been a problem as well.
It is clear then, that a need still exists for a round hay bale livestock feeder which includes a hay saving space between the feeding livestock and the round bale. Such a feeder should make the round bale itself readily accessible, but must also make any hay dropped by the feeding livestock easily accessible as well. In addition, it should be relatively easy to load and remove round bales from the feeder.